Summer vacation is nearing its end and with that, a major percentage of the Kroger workforce is about to limit/restrict their hours/days as kids return to school/college. This is going to compound and already bad situation as despite having numerous "City Wide" hiring events over the summer (one's going on now, actually), all we've been able to hire is teenagers, for the most part. Teenagers are just about the only ones willing to work for Kroger's bottom of the barrel pay. Mornings/early afternoons are going to be the hardest hit because these students are going to be in school, obviously, and college kids are going to be completely unavailable on some days once again. At my store, front end/produce is going to be screwed the absolute worst as those departments seem to employ the most students. We're already short though as it is across the whole store, and when the store is averaging a million dollars in sales (some weeks, it's just a few thousand under, others it's several thousand over, but we have more million dollar weeks than sub-million dollar weeks), having a big chunk of the employee-base limiting/restricting hours/days is just going to make the existing problems (out of stocks, not "fresh" enough, too many dips) grow in size.
I don't blame those that are returning to school, especially the college kids. That's a heck of a lot more important. I blame Kroger for being so cheap that no adult with bills to pay wants to work there. Starting rate of $7.35/$7.45 for most positions in the store coupled with unstable hours doesn't attract very many people. All the department heads at my store that I've talked with are absolutely dreading what's coming in a week because they know their jobs are about to get ten times harder (and management's complaining and whining about stuff not getting done/looking good a lot louder) as the e-Sked availability changes start flowing in. Of course, it's going to make everyone else's job harder and more miserable, too, so really, it's not just the department heads dreading the end of August.
I am moving to Fac tech but the Smith's I work for at the moment gets really bad after summer. We have 2 things that compound the stress. First, like you posted, the kids all drop hours or quit entirely. Second, is our store is located in a retirement community, this means we get snowbirds in the winter (Nevada). I will use my old department as an example. Typically, in the summer, an average day was only about $500-$800. Once the snowbirds get in, $2,000 days are the norm. It's a jarring change, especially for ordering. I don't see how bad it gets up in front end, but in the Winter the PA is basically on all day " Service 1 front end please, we need all back end help up front right now. " Luckily Meat and Seafood are exempt.
. . . blame Kroger for being so cheap that no adult with bills to pay wants to work there.
Low wages; high pressure. Who wouldn't jump for that?
Southwest Division came down to the wire on being able to even cobble together the necessary staff to open the last couple of stores. A Division-level manager said this "opened some eyes" about the sorry state of the abysmally-low wages . . . so much so that UFCW Local 1000 and Krogrr are said to be in early, "secret", wage (re)negotiations.
. . . blame Kroger for being so cheap that no adult with bills to pay wants to work there.
Low wages; high pressure. Who wouldn't jump for that?
Southwest Division came down to the wire on being able to even cobble together the necessary staff to open the last couple of stores. A Division-level manager said this "opened some eyes" about the sorry state of the abysmally-low wages . . . so much so that UFCW Local 1000 and Krogrr are said to be in early, "secret", wage (re)negotiations.
That sounds encouraging, but what do you think they will expect from the employees if they have to pay them more? We all see how hard they work employees earning low wages.
. . . blame Kroger for being so cheap that no adult with bills to pay wants to work there.
Low wages; high pressure. Who wouldn't jump for that?
Southwest Division came down to the wire on being able to even cobble together the necessary staff to open the last couple of stores. A Division-level manager said this "opened some eyes" about the sorry state of the abysmally-low wages . . . so much so that UFCW Local 1000 and Krogrr are said to be in early, "secret", wage (re)negotiations.
I wouldn't doubt it. Having high turnover is sometimes more expensive than having a higher wage. If anything, the pay for people who have been there 1-2 years NEEDS to move up.
I feel bad for those in these crappy contracts, i've been working for Kroger for 3.5 almost 4 years and make $9.40 which isn't a ton of money but to be there that long and only be at $8? That's terrible.
I feel bad for those in these crappy contracts, i've been working for Kroger for 3.5 almost 4 years and make $9.40 which isn't a ton of money but to be there that long and only be at $8? That's terrible.
In Atlanta division it's 5 years to hit $8/hr part time. Can you even imagine?
Full time gets there about twice as fast but that's still ridiculously slow.
Summer vacation is nearing its end and with that, a major percentage of the Kroger workforce is about to limit/restrict their hours/days as kids return to school/college. This is going to compound and already bad situation as despite having numerous "City Wide" hiring events over the summer (one's going on now, actually), all we've been able to hire is teenagers, for the most part. Teenagers are just about the only ones willing to work for Kroger's bottom of the barrel pay. Mornings/early afternoons are going to be the hardest hit because these students are going to be in school, obviously, and college kids are going to be completely unavailable on some days once again. At my store, front end/produce is going to be screwed the absolute worst as those departments seem to employ the most students. We're already short though as it is across the whole store, and when the store is averaging a million dollars in sales (some weeks, it's just a few thousand under, others it's several thousand over, but we have more million dollar weeks than sub-million dollar weeks), having a big chunk of the employee-base limiting/restricting hours/days is just going to make the existing problems (out of stocks, not "fresh" enough, too many dips) grow in size.
I don't blame those that are returning to school, especially the college kids. That's a heck of a lot more important. I blame Kroger for being so cheap that no adult with bills to pay wants to work there. Starting rate of $7.35/$7.45 for most positions in the store coupled with unstable hours doesn't attract very many people. All the department heads at my store that I've talked with are absolutely dreading what's coming in a week because they know their jobs are about to get ten times harder (and management's complaining and whining about stuff not getting done/looking good a lot louder) as the e-Sked availability changes start flowing in. Of course, it's going to make everyone else's job harder and more miserable, too, so really, it's not just the department heads dreading the end of August.
The unstable hours were bad, yes, but for me one of the more annoying parts was not knowing my schedule for the upcoming week(s). It's very difficult to "have a life" or make plans for or with others when you have no idea what your work schedule is going to be coming up.
And of course asking for a day off or time off doesn't necessarily mean you are going to get it.
If the college students are able/willing they can take over the morning shifts and parts of the day. It depends on how they schedule their classes. But I know some stores don't really have a college near them so their non-high school student baggers are special needs or non-students that tend to live at home with their parents still.
We do have a couple of home-school students that work with me in the mornings, but that's about it.
Krogrr is so greedy, so stupid, so mean, it deserves to fail. I try to do a good job for my coworkers and due to my own sense of decency, but, dang, helping out such a vicious outfit is pretty unfulfilling, to say the least.
-- Edited by kroagrr on Monday 7th of September 2015 08:09:58 AM
You poor contracted bastards. Transfer to one of the non union stored in Washington. You can make almost 20 bucks an hour and not even be a department head.
